This car is one of those fabulous pre-war Rileys that have been developed over many years by enthusiastic owners for serious competition use. Although the history of the car is not confirmed in detail, it is believed to be based around the single-seat Brooklands chassis once owned by that great Riley campaigner, Bob Gerard, and may well be the car that Gerard Racing proposed to develop from a short chassis TT Brooklands which was used in various forms between 1935 and 1951.

A letter from Gerard Racing dated 1965 suggests this may well be the basis of this car which was sold partially completed by them in the early 1950s. The bodywork which the car now sports was made by coachbuilder Bill Roberts in the 1960s using body drawings believed to have been for the ex-Bob Gerard ‘Bullet’.

The car is fitted with a Derek Chinn supercharger and a close-ratio ENV75 pre-selector gearbox, while the engine has been developed with Allen crank and conrods, Omega pistons and Piper cams. Weight savings have been made wherever possible in the best vintage traditions and the car has proved competitive and successful in historic sprints, hill climbs and circuit races, both here and on the Continent.

The car has recently been fully prepared for the season, including an overhaul of the engine, supercharger and pre-selector gearbox with new tyres and battery just fitted. It comes with VSCC eligibility papers and should prove very competitive in the right pair of hands.